It was founded in 1948 by left-wing members who broke with the main Kuomintang (KMT) during the Chinese Civil War, especially those who were against Chiang Kai-shek's policies. The party claims to be the true heir of Sun Yat-sen's legacy. By the end of June 2012, it had 101,865 members.[1]

Among the officially sanctioned political parties of the People's Republic of China, the Revolutionary Committee is seen as "second" in status to the Communist Party of China. Thus, the Revolutionary Committee is allotted the second highest number of seats in the People's Political Consultative Conference (30%). It also owns numerous assets, some formerly owned by the Kuomintang, throughout mainland China. The Revolutionary Committee operates a range of party-owned institutions, such as party schools.